Emma

by Howard Zinn

In this play, historian and playwright Howard Zinn dramatizes the life of Emma Goldman, the anarchist, feminist, and free-spirited thinker who was exiled from the United States because of her outspoken views, including her opposition to World War I. With his wit and unique ability to illuminate history from below, Zinn reveals the life of this remarkable woman. As Zinn writes in his Introduction, Emma Godman "seemed to be tireless as she traveled the country, lecturing to large audiences everywhere, on birth control ("A woman should decide for herself"), on the falsity of marriage as an institution ("Marriage has nothing to do with love"), on patriotism ("the last refuge of a scoundrel") on free love ("What is love if not free?") and also on the drama, including Shaw, Ibsen, and Strindberg. This book will be of immense interest to feminists, American historians, and people interested in the long history of resistance and protest in the United States. Howard Zinn is professor emeritus at Boston University. He is the author of the classic A People’s History of the United States . A television adaptation of the book is currently being co-produced by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Chris Moore for HBO. Zinn has received the Lannan Foundation Literary Award for Nonfiction and the Eugene V. Debs award for his writing and political activism. Zinn is the author of the internationally acclaimed play Marx in Soho , which has been touring the country in performance since its release.

Genres: Plays, History, Politics, Nonfiction, Feminism, Biography Memoir, Drama

112 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Howard Zinn was an American historian, playwright, philosopher, socialist intellectual and World War II veteran. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a political science professor at Boston University. Zinn wrote more than 20 books, including his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United States in 1980. In 2007, he published a version of it for younger readers, A Young People's History of the United States.

Zinn described himself as "something of an anarchist, something of a socialist. Maybe a democratic socialist." He wrote extensively about the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement and labor history of the United States. His memoir, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train (Beacon Press, 1994), was also the title of a 2004 documentary about Zinn's life and work. Zinn died of a heart attack in 2010, at the age of 87.

Reviews

[Illiterate · Rating 1 out of 5]

Idealized characters and didactic speeches.

[olivia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This play was so bad it was funny. Can't say I'll recommend this text or ever seek out a live performance of the play, but the unintended comedy of Zinn's overly dramatic and stilted stage-writing made for an amusing introduction to Jewish Anarchism.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

For some reason, I thought this was a biography, not the script for a play and picked it up because I wanted to learn more about Emma Goldman. Instead, I got a dramatization of the most commonly known events in her life. A quick read with lots of fluff, little substance. The dialog is stilted and none of the characters really develop. Too bad, given Emma's interest in good theater. I expected better from Howard Zinn.

[Carolyn Fitzpatrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting biography of Emma Goldman and her pursuit of anarchy, free love, gender equality, and urban reform in the early 20th century.

[Camille Tinnin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to enjoy this because I love Howard Zinn but he is decidedly not a playwright. If you want a quick read that gives some of the big events of Goldman’s life, this would work. It took me about an hour to read. However, the dialogue felt clunky and I didn’t feel like I got to know the characters. Zinn’s introduction is fantastic- he does what he does so well- outlines lesser known history and tie it to the present (the present being very much the past now, as this was published originally in the late 80s and then reprinted in 2002).

I really can’t imagine a staging of this- maybe seeing it on stage would be better? I appreciate him seeking to tell Emma’s story to a broader audience and am glad to see more positive reviews that show that for others that really worked. It just wasn’t for me.

If you want to jump into Zinn in an accessible way, I recommend “A People’s History of The American Empire”. It’s a graphic novel and uses that medium very well, in my opinion. It’s par autobiography part history. I haven’t finished it yet, but only because the subject matter is so heavy that I have to read it in small doses and then leave it for a month or more.

[Nat Roberts · Rating 2 out of 5]

Zinn is a first rate historian and essayist, in fact his work was crucial to my radicalization. But as a playwright? His pacing is non-existent and his dialogue reads like it came out of a tin can. The most effective scenes come from Emma's speaking tour, which is unsurprising since they mostly draw on her real works – which are vital and lively whether printed or spoken. It hurts to be so critical of a writer who means so much to me, but to spare this critique would feel dishonest

[Rhuddem Gwelin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zinn and Goldberg, the only thing lacking is actually seeing it on stage.

[Mohamed Gamal · Rating 2 out of 5]

جايز تكون شخصية ايما مثيرة للاهتمام انما المسرحية في حد ذاتها مملة جدا
جايز لو كانت المسرحية رواية كانت بقت افضل انما الجو المسرحي دة مش مناسب خالص للشخصية
النجمتين للمقدمة اللي حقيقي كانت حلوة

[Jamal · Rating 2 out of 5]

howard zinn became so horny for a political figure that he wrote a play about her. she is of course excellent but that's beside the point.

[Ezra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A historical play by Howard Zinn about an anarcho-feminist lost to the pages of history? Yes please. Incredible. I’ll take 14 of them.

[Nadia]

just missed being this queen's namesake

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This play was beautiful and funny. I fell in love with Howard Zinn on Tuesday and now I am exercising that love by reading his work. His picture of Emma Goldman is exciting and captivating. The characters are all revolutionaries and they are working on projects, going to jail, and trying to live. On the one hand Sasha is like "people in Pittsburgh are losing their jobs and you are at the opera!? And Emma says things like we need to fight but also find beauty in the world right now". Flowers and operas and things. She also is pro pro womens' rights but at the same time dates this savagely beautiful man who lies and cheats, but she loves him anyway. I think these are the things that make her real. That make us real. That no matter what we fight for there aren't easy answers to life and the world isn't black and white and that we shouldn't have to justify ourselves to anyone ever, as long as we aren't BEING MEAN. Memorable Quote: Who needs the words when you can feel it in your bones everyday?

[Cecilia · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, this is what happens when historians write plays. It's not a good play. The characters are flat. The narrative is episodic, rushed, disjointed, and difficult to follow. However, as a history of Emma Goldman's life and the anarchist movement at the time in America, it's a nice easy little read. Howard Zinn does a fantastic job at what he's good at. He makes you understand that activists are real people who are passionate, brave, and intelligent. They came from somewhere and they make choices that aren't easy. This is the problem with writing a play about a person and not an event. Real life is made up of a series of events that don't necessarily make a cohesive narrative. So, plays like this always turn into "and then this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened."

On the other hand, it's sort of fun to read about people who believed in "free love" and were against marriage because they were "against all institutions that demand subservience" in the early 1900s.

[Phebe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Howard Zinn is decidedly NOT a playwright. I enjoyed the introduction and learned quite a lot about many fascinating, courageous people— only to be disappointed by flat, stiff characters with all the fire and sensuality of a streetlamp in daylight. Skip this, and read a biography of the titular Emma instead.

[Caroline Watson-Felt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this play. The one note I have is that there are a few moments when I feel that the dialogue is a little overly dramatic - a common flaw when writing a piece which takes place in the past. Overall, terrific though - great historical figure and a great play!

[Spicy T AKA Mr. Tea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could hear Emma Goldman through this play. I found it enjoyable to read.

[Brea Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

i like the subject. i like the author. i thought the play was okay.

[Rye · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The movement needs us to live for it, not to die for it."

[Jacquelyn Fusco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Get an insight into a short period during Emma's life. I want to read a full biography now.